


The Other Jungle Book

by JackOlantern



Category: The Jungle Book (1967), The Jungle Book - All Media Types, The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
Genre: Animal Transformation, Deception, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Lifesaving Kisses, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:07:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5772433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackOlantern/pseuds/JackOlantern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That is why," he says, shifting his paw on the leaves, "even as I returned to my jungle, so must you go back to men, to the men who are your family."</p><p>You can't believe Bagheera's words. They hurt you more than you would ever let show. But will you survive alone in the jungle? News of a certain beast's return casts a dark shadow of fear over the rain forest. This is your tale in a world where beast can shift into man, in a world of creatures guided by the Laws of the Jungle, this is your life in... The Jungle Book.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightfall in the Jungle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maximilian O.](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Maximilian+O.).



> Oh yeah! Before I forget the disclaimer, I do not own any of the characters from "The Jungle Book"! I just took parts of the original story by Kipling and the Disney movie and added them to my own ideas, warping them to fit my liking. Selfish, I know :3

_Now Rann the Kite brings home the night_

_That Mang the Bat sets free--_

_The herds are shut in byre and hut_

_For loosed till dawn are we._

_This is the hour of pride and power,_

_Talon and tush and claw._

_Oh, hear the call! --Good hunting all_

_That keep the Jungle Law!_

_-Night-Song in the Jungle_

The jungle lay quiet in the cool shadows of dusk. It was by no means silent, yet after sunset in the underbrush of the vast forest a certain tranquility settled upon animal and human alike. However, as the mist falls upon the lower levels of the trees, all sorts of creatures come alive, and with the awakening prey come the hunters.

 You make your way noiselessly through the thicket, the damp of the day’s humidity now brushing cool against your skin. You mask your movement’s noise well, springing from branch to branch when the cricket’s song moves into a crescendo, keeping close to the running stream to blend your footsteps with the flow of the water. Only a little more to where your prey is waiting, unaware of your silent approach.

 Brushing aside a juicy leaf almost twice your size you finally look down onto an empty clearing. Save for a few fireflies, no one is in sight. Catching your breath, you crouch back into the blue shadows of the tree you are in. Surely you aren’t early, Brother Wolf had only just given you the heads up and you had immediately begun your chase.

 You peer down carefully once more and then close your eyes. The jungle vibrates with the sound of water dripping, the first night birds crying and the life within the ancient forest. Now, concentrate. You hear the slight breeze and feel it caressing your skin, damp from the ever-wet greens around you. You hear a pecker work on a close-by tree, long dead by the sound of the hollow taps that vibrate back every time the bird cracks his beak against the bark. You hear the distant river flowing down to the Great Falls in the valley.

You hear a soft rustle of leaves below your feet. Immediately your eyes snap open. Beneath you, a shadow glides into the open of the clearing, making its way towards the dark shore of a nearby waterhole.

 Determined, as quietly as you can you move to the next branch, silently thanking the trees for their coverage. The animal beneath you is large, yet doubtlessly one of the most graceful in the kingdom animalia. And one of the most lethal.

 On velvet paws it approaches the edge of the water and bows its coal black head towards the smooth surface. A pink tongue laps out and the feline’s reflection is broken by ripples disturbing the mirror image of the dark and spectacularly starry sky. You can make out the panther’s shoulder blades, cinched together as it crouches, held together by strong muscle and you can’t help but shudder at the deadly power emanating from the beast. Its purpose is now peaceful whilst quenching its thirst, but you have come to learn that an animal is at it’s most vulnerable at the drinking hole, as it is forced to give up its guard. If provoked, that panther could within a second have sprung up from its crouch and have its enemy ripped apart on the ground before him.

 You inch forward, closing in on your target. You can still hear the soft drip of water from the drinking panther and you rub your sweaty palms on your furs. Just a bit closer…! You place your weight on the branch before you, and look down. A second too late you realize in horror that you are hovering just a little too far over the edge of the water and are now in clear sight of the feline, your pale face reflected immaculately by the water surface.

The Panther however keeps its head down, and you can’t believe your luck as you very slowly start your retreat. 

Until it suddenly freezes. 

You breathe in sharply as you find your gaze locked to the creatures’. Panicked, you scramble back, only to find your hands grasping into thin air and with a cry you feel yourself tumbling down sharply from your hiding spot! The Panther stays in place, its eyes widening in surprise at the human falling out of the tree, straight at him. 

You somehow manage to twist, but still collide face first with the back of the gigantic cat. The air is pushed out of your lungs and you ribs protest in pain. “Ugh!”. During a short struggle, you try to subdue your prey, but just as quickly find yourself pinned to the mossy floor by a heavy onyx paw and your throat caught in between a very powerful jaw and two sets of very sharp teeth. The canines dig painfully into the sensitive skin of your neck and you barely repress a whimper as you feel something warm trickle down to your chest. Not that you would admit that you are scared.

After a tense moment, the teeth withdraw slightly, but the Panther’s stare is almost harder to bear. His eyes are the consuming yellow colour of a savannah sunrise. He stares at you, lower lids squinting up with the intensity of his regard.

 You stare back, right into those burning orbs.

_“Do you have any last words, Child of Man?”_

His soft voice floats through the air. It’s a deep, dark tone, not lacking in warmth. It feels almost coquettish as your neck tingles from the animal breathing warmly onto it, scenting you, nudging its damp nose softly against the small section of bleeding skin there.

He makes a noise, almost as if he were tutting in disapproval (but Panthers can’t make that sound, can they?), and suddenly you feel a warm, wet tongue gently glide up from above the dip of your collarbone to a very sensitive spot just underneath your ear and back again.

 You swallow, hard, and the Panther chuckles quietly.

_“You always were a reckless cub.”_

You gasp in indignation. “Cub?! I am no child any longer! I have far passed beyond that stage! Surely even you could not have missed that, Bagheera!”

The Panther just hums and continues to lavish your throat with attention. While this is certainly embarrassing, you know better than to deprive the big cat of his care taking. Ever since he found you all alone, floating along on the calm waters of the River Fateful, as the animals call it, he has played a very important part in your life. He has been your best friend, your mentor, and your teacher.

Since the moment you first laid eyes upon him, you had always thought him to be the most beautiful creature of all, inky black all over, but with the panther markings showing up in certain lights like the pattern of watered silk.

Everybody knew Bagheera, and nobody cared to cross his path; for he was as cunning as the snake, as bold as the wild buffalo, and as reckless as the wounded elephant. But he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.

He taught you the meaning of things in the jungle, until every rustle in the grass, every breath of the warm night air, every note of the owls above your head, every scratch of a bat's claws as it roosted for a while in a tree, and every splash of every little fish jumping in a pool meant as much to you as to every other animal. Even though you grew up with your pack, the wolves, he has always been there for you and you call for him when your need is at its greatest.

But right now, he is teaching you a lesson.

_"Tell me, have I not taught you to take utmost care of your reflection in the water when approaching drinking prey?”_

“Y-you have, Bagheera.”

His answering growl reverberates on your neck and you can barely repress a shiver running down your spine.

_“Then I suppose you can tell me why I saw your human face hovering right above mine in that tree before, now, can you?”_

“Ah, I, um…”

 He cuts you off. _“Now don’t stutter, think of what you want to say and only then speak.”_

 You swallow hard again; well aware he can feel your every move.

 “I- I’m sorry, Bagheera. I will do better next time.”

 After a moment of silence the wet pressure disappears from your collarbone and the panther briefly rubs his forehead against your cheek, letting you sit up.

 It has grown increasingly dark beneath the large ferns and trees and you hold back a yawn with your hand.

Bagheera’s voice softly permeates the air again. Yet he does not seem angry. He sounds almost… nostalgic.

  _“I do not know what to tell you, cub. Long gone seem the days of the clumsy little frog, stumbling around on your two brittle legs, pulling my fur more painfully than any child of the jungle would have ever done.”_

You look away, grinning.

 You loved more than anything else to go with Bagheera into the dark warm heart of the forest, to sleep all through the drowsy day, and at night see how Bagheera did his killing. He killed right and left as he felt hungry, and so did you—with one exception. As soon as you were old enough to understand things, Bagheera had told you that you must not ever touch cattle because you had been allowed to stay with the Pack at the price of a bull's life.

 _"All the jungle is thine, cub,"_ Bagheera had said, _"and you may kill everything that you are strong enough to kill; but for the sake of the bull’s life that I exchanged for your safekeeping, you must never kill or eat any cattle, young or old. That is the Law of the Jungle."_

You had obeyed faithfully to this day, grateful for Bagheera’s sacrifice.

Looking over at the large feline, you notice him staring almost wistfully over the water illuminated by the risen moon, fireflies dancing merrily atop its surface. Carefully, you reach out to caress his brilliantly shining fur, black hues tinged green and blue in the light.

He flinches at your touch, breaking out of his trance, yet he does not look at you.

With a small twinge in your heart you had noticed him growing more and more reluctant to your touch over the last few years. Whereas once he had nestled with you, draping his warm body around your fragile little human form, now he would barely even rub his face to yours anymore, let alone let you sleep near him. You tried to push away the hurt you feel whenever he reacts negatively to your touch, you tried to write it off as Bagheera’s overall distaste for affection (he really never lets anyone close to him, not even the wolf cubs), but you couldn’t help but wonder what had changed for him to constantly hold you at arm’s, or rather, paw’s length.

Just as you are about to withdraw your hand, you feel a sigh emanating from your friend and he finally turns his head to regard you. You can’t read the expression in his amber eyes, but you return his gaze in earnest, subconsciously holding your breath in anticipation.

His whiskers twitch slightly as he finally breaks eye contact and, much to your surprise, he slips his large head underneath your hovering hand, his eyes sliding shut.

His face looks oh so innocent in that moment. Incongruous to the stern chiding you received moments before, as though he had already forgotten. Your eyes flit all over the familiar visage, searching. Aha. You see it, then, hidden in the slight crinkle of the creature's snout. There is mischief behind that expression, as well as a gleam of self-awareness.

He is humoring you.

Not willing to pass up on the increasingly rare chance, you bring both your hands up to rub at the panthers ears and he stretches himself out to his full length, keeping his eyes shut. You notice your pale skin striking a harsh contrast to the onyx fur as you run your hands over and over the warm animal. Feeling somewhat bold, your hand drops lower to rub at the feline’s neck. A low sound escapes Bagheera and you realize he is purring deep in the back of his throat. You flush, happy to have wrought such a pleasured sound from him and you continue your ministrations until, just under Bagheera's silky chin, where the giant rolling muscles are all hidden by the glossy hair, you come upon a rough patch of skin, the texture of a scar.

Your hand stills and Bagheera falls silent. Cautiously you trail a finger over the broken flesh.

 _"No one in the jungle knows that I, Bagheera, carry that mark—the mark of the collar, of imprisonment. And yet, Little Cub, I was brought up amongst man, and it was amongst men that my mother died—in the cages of the king's palace at Oodeypore._ _When I first found you as a little naked cub, I was reminded of my own cubhood, and it was because of this that I paid the price of the bull for thee at the Council to decide your fate.”_

You must have looked astonished, as Bagheera continues, words full of sorrow and tinged with fury.

_“Yes, I too was born amongst man. I had never seen the wonders of the jungle. They beat me and fed me behind bars from an iron pan in my prison until one night I felt that I was Baghira—the Panther—and no man's plaything! So I broke the locks with one blow of my paw and escaped that wretched place. Yet because I had learned the ways of man, I became more terrible in the jungle than even Shere K- the most ferocious beasts themselves."_

He breaks off, as if worried he had already said too much.

_"You look so troubled, cub. Is it not so?”_

"Yes," you say, struggling against the knot in your throat "all of the jungle fear Bagheera—all except me."

 A chuckle rumbles through the clearing.

  _"Oh, you truly are man's cub,"_ says the black panther very tenderly. He looks like he is about to rub his head against your cheek, but then decides against it in favor of scrutinizing you.  _"Look at me," he_  almost whispers. You obey, looking him steadily between the eyes. Bagheera turns his head away in half a minute.

 _"All this is why,"_ he says, avoiding your gaze again and shifting his paw on the leaves, _"even as I returned to my jungle, so must you go back to men, to the men who are your kin."_


	2. The Deep, Dark Jungle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What creatures might lie in the green depths of your home? Poor manchild, ssso lonesssome...

_“Cub. Wait. Cub!”_

Bagheera’s voice soon fades away into the background of jungle noise.

 

Stupid panther.

 

You rub an angry hand over your face, wiping away any treacherous wetness pricking at the corners of your eyes. He always did possess the talent of dropping truths on you like that in moments of calm. Yet this one shocks you deeply. Does he really want you to go? After all, you angrily admit to yourself, you _are_ troublesome to him. Always the slowest, always hurting yourself, never quite right.

 

It hurts; to be pushed away by someone you admire so.

 

After another hour of streaking through the jungle, you finally become aware of your surroundings. The part of the jungle here has flourished, grown out of hand, wildly. The green around you is so thick that most of the moonlight is blocked out before getting a chance to fully illuminate the level you are on, creating an odd sort of dusk around you. Every shadow is thus exaggerated and you suddenly experience an odd sort of feeling that lightly makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise.

 

The feeling of being watched.

 

Trying to shake it off, you quickly grab a vine and start hoisting yourself up the majestic tree on whose branches the moss is growing in thick, fluffy patches. The moon has completely disappeared behind great white clouds, and you feel exhaustion creeping into your limbs. Finally up high enough to feel safer and finding a just soft enough spot to sit on, you close your eyes and try to catch some sleep.

 

And you dream.

 

“Ah! Bagheera!” you gasp in admiration, as the panther prowls over what seems to be glowing embers. His breath fans out, hot, and there is fire licking at you, at him, heating, but not burning. Tongues of scarlet swirl through the air and suddenly he is engulfed by flame, the panther patterns glowing crimson as his onyx body becomes one with the bright colours, and he throws his magnificent head back and roars! What a sound! It pulsates powerfully, fascinating and terrifying all at once, as it is the sound of an emperor amongst animals.

 

As the wild sound echoes, suddenly the fire writhes and a large pillar of flame licks up high into the sky and you hear a cry as he yells your name, in utter turmoil or in ecstasy, you do not know. And the fire splits, parting in the middle to create a path on which you see the naked figure of a man, his modesty just barely covered by red straps of the fabric of his waistcloth hanging sinful low on his hips.

 

His skin shines with a bronze glow, accentuating all the right places on his astonishingly muscular body, pectorals tight, body sculpted, muscles flexing as he takes a step towards you.

 

You shiver as you recognize the familiar grace of his movements, the deadly elegance of a large feline in the flesh and tendons of man. His hair floats like a dark corona around in his face, resembling an onyx halo. And black are his eyebrows, framing a face full of cheekbones as sharp as glass and a cutting jawline.

 

You feel your cheeks flush, as you lower your gaze to your feet.

 

He calls again and you can feel his pull, the deep longing hidden in the husky vocals of your name.

 

Your head snaps up as you feel him stand so close you can feel the warmth emanating from his body. He reaches out as to caress the skin on your neck, but stops, a hairbreadth away, and suddenly you realize that you _need_ his touch.

 

You gaze deeply into those amber eyes that look like they are burning from the inside. A quiet, inhuman growl erupts from Bagheera’s throat.

 

You lunge.

 

And fall… and fall… and fall…

 

You wake with a cry, jumping up, looking anxiously around you. Now you can definitely feel the gaze of someone- or something and it does nothing to cool the sheen of sweat on your skin. You inch backwards, stepping on piles of dry leaves.

 

“H- hello?” you ask the darkness bravely. “Is anyone there?”

 

“ _It isss I,_ ” a whisper returns a few heartbeats later.

 

You whirl around, only to find nothing behind you either.

 

“ _Do not be frightened, child. I am here. I can sssee you_.”

 

As you squint into the darkness, you suddenly see the shadow of what seems to be a woman immerge out of the thicket. She approaches you, moving slowly and fluidly as if though water, or floating on air. And what a sight she is. An alluring hybrid, with a voluptuous humanoid body down to her hips, where iridescent skin blends seamlessly into a thick, shimmering tail trailing back and up high into the tree branches above your heads.

 

Although she has the torso of a human woman, the snake’s tail is much longer and heavier than any you had ever seen. It was hard to tell from this angle, but you estimate that tail was nearly 50 feet long.

The scales shimmer as she moves, reminding of an oil spill, and the largest ones are rimmed at the tip with a brilliant emerald hue. Those scales are so reflective that you can see your own reflection in them, albeit distorted.

 

Smirking, you observe a glow in the woman’s yellow eyes, as she takes in your admiration, laying an arm over her naked chest in a mock demonstration of coyness.

 

“ _Yesss, dear child, look as much as you want. Look clossser…_ ”

 

She need not speak up any longer as she circles close to you, her voice reduced to that of a whisper, smooth yet brittle as the rustling of dried autumn leaves.

 

You feel stunned.

 

“Who- who are you?”

 

A pause follows, pregnant with the significance of your inquiry.

 

“ _I am Kaa_ ,” she finally responds, and although you hadn’t heard that name before, you feel like it bears some significance. You faintly recall a lesson on hypnotical reptilia serpentes… Before you were able to finish the thought however, Kaa spoke again.

“What are you doing, ssso lossst in the deep dark jungle, human child?”

 

She spoke with strategically placed pauses, letting her forked tongue sliver between her lips, slurring her speech into something less human and more eery.

That last comment irks you slightly. Child? Someone else always referrs to you that way, but you are  _not_ a child. Yet, in your dreamy haze, the thought quickly escapes your mind, replaced only by an odd feeling of emptiness.

 

“I…”, you try to speak up, but it sounds so far away, like the diluted sound of the returned waves of an echo.

 

“ _Hussshh_ ,’, the snake hisses, laying a placating finger on your lips. Something in you tells you to startle at her closeness, yet you realize you are much too tired and can't really be bothered to move. Even as you feel scales brushing against your legs, slowly creeping up to your knees, the thought of doing anything but listening to the snake seems utterly preposterous and really, like a big waste of time.

 

 _“Look into my eyesss…_ ”

The yellow orbs pulse, spin, making you dizzy. Yellow, like eyes you remember, ones you are very fond of… These in front of you however are lacking in warmth. They burn, like cold fire, and instead of kindness only a gaping, black hunger lies in their depths.

 

And you feel the cold creeping into your limbs, as your arms and legs start to feel like they weigh the weight of the world in the heavy embrace of serpentine coils.

Your eyelids droop shut, blocking out the cavalcade of color that had spun in Kaa’s eyes. As much as keeping your eyes open is a difficult task, it has also become quite a chore to draw breath and you feel the air leave your chest more and more.

 

“ _Dear child, I can feel your exhaussstion. Let me embrace you, lean on me,_ _trussst meee_. _Trussst meeee…_ ”

 

The world grows dark.


	3. The Good Samaritan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saved out of the clutches of death... Hazy dreams about your savior torment you, when he is just trying to help... What does it all mean?

_“-regardless, Baloo, that’s a human!”_

_“Oh scram, pipsqueak, I know what I’m doin’!”_

_“P-pi- PIPSQUEAK?! Never, have I-, over a human! I-! It’s stirring!!! You better be careful Baloo, and watch your hide! Humans are dangerous!”_

A shadow breaks the stream of sunlight streaming in through a curtain of green vines, followed by a fluttering sound. Then, everything is silent.

_“Oh boy.”_

You faintly hear heavy footsteps draw near and you instinctively clamp your eyes shut, trying to will your suddenly hammering heart to quiet down inside your chest. 

_*When caught in a situation, cub, of a nature you have yet to identify, remain calm, open your senses to your surroundings. See not with your weak, deceptive eyes, but with your skin, your ears, your gut and your heart.*_

Bagheera’s wisdom strikes a cord of calm inside of you. Carefully brushing your fingers over the surface beneath you, you realize you are rested on what feels like soft petals and leaves, which explains the pleasantly sweet, yet earthy scent that hangs in the air.

The heavy footsteps approach.

There!

Something passes the leafy curtain. Something big, something heavy. Something… carnivorous? Your gut feeling tells you that if whatever brought you here had wanted to make an easy dinner out of you, it would have had you already. The footfall of the animal seems heavy and slow, almost lazy, judging by the sound of claws dragging over stony floor.

Cave, big animal with big claws, possibly not exclusively carnivorous… Could it be a-

_“Uh, hiya! I heard ya move just then, uh, so, don’t play dead! I won’t eatcha!”_

Warm breath fans over your cheek and you feel a gentle nudge of a soft nose at your cheek. Startled by the contact, your eyes fly open!

Above you hovers the head of what could only be described as a “ginormous” brown bear, its large hazel orbs gazing into your own warmly. For a moment, bear and human are left staring at the foreign creature opposite them, taking in the other’s features. Until…

 _“…Hello,”_ the bear offers, shyly. His deep, rich voice immediately seems to calm your once again racing heart.

“H- ack”, you splutter, throat suddenly on fire, unable to return the pleasant greeting.

_“Oh no! No, no, don’t speak, littl’un! That slithering fiend sure gotcha good! If I’d ha’ come any later, hoo boy, well, I’d say I wouldn’t have found much left a ya!”_

When your coughing doesn’t subside, the large animal pads to a dark corner of the cave, reemerging with the shell of some large nut, nudging it towards you clumsily.

_“Here, drink! You need’a calm your throat! Please!”_

Your entire chest feels as if it were on fire now as violent coughs rack your frame until you can’t breathe and the edges of your vision start to blacken out.

Blindly you grope for the water bowl, but between your frantic hands and the huge, clumsy paws of the bear, the water is knocked from it’s makeshift container, spilling between you. You are shaking now, and with the next lurch of air, the flower petals are splattered with a shade of crimson. Tears of panic and fear rise to your eyes as you grab hold of the thing closest to you. Your bloody fingers dig into warm brown fur, tugging at the bear desperately, whose deep brown eyes, filled with pity worry look down upon your body in battle with itself.

As you collapse onto your back your lungs cramp together. The last thing you see before renewed darkness is the giant mammal turning it’s back to you, and you feel like this time, you are utterly done for.

 

…

 _“Cub! CUB! Where have you gone?_ ”

…

…

Bagheera…

…

…

_“Do not run so far! Manchild! Where are you?”_

…

…

_“Quiet now, littl’un, it’ll all be fine..”_

…

Darkness lies all around you. In the distance, there’s a shadow, a big, dark figure.

Could it be…? No, this creature is far from feline, so large and slow.

A bear?

As the ursine turns, it seems to start towards you, intent shining in it’s deep, warm eyes. It draws closer, yet the shadows swirl abruptly, engulfing the big form in black smoke. Undisturbed, it continues towards your lying form, however, the nearer it comes, the smaller and lither it’s frame becomes, tricking the eye into believing he is in fact distancing himself from you.

Your eyes fall shut.

Something wet drops onto your chin.

Your tongue, leathery and dry reaches towards the liquid, and thirst engulfs you in its clenching fist, leaving you yearning.

A drop lands on your cupid’s bow, and another on the corner of your mouth.

Surprised, your eyes flutter open. A warm, human hand gently reaches over your face, brushing your eyelids shut, humming soothingly. What you saw for a second only further astonishes you, the image turning over and over in your head. You had never seen something like it before, yet you instinctively knew what he was. A manly face with long chestnut hair falling low to cover his eyes had hovered above you. The tip of a nose smattered with freckles peaked out beneath the obtrusive curtain of hair, the same color as the stubble covering his cheeks and chin. It was a human! It lacked the soft curves of your face and the ears protruding from the top of it’s head resembled that of a bear, however you felt an innate curiosity towards the animal-man.

The glimpse you had gotten of his face furthermore confirmed where the droplets had come from, as his lips where glistening with a runny, golden sheen.

His hand was still softly pressed to your eyes very careful not to block your airways. Oddly, fear didn’t have you in it’s grip quite as much as it should have in a “potentially hostile situation.”

For a second you feel him hesitate a few mere inches above you, and you breathe in his scent. He smells sweet, earthy, calming. Almost human.

Just as you are about to mention your parched throat, you hear him move swiftly, and suddenly there is liquid at your lips and you part them, the faint taste of honey and something indescribable flooding your mouth.

 _“Swallow. Carefully,”_ a voice sounds in your head.

You obey, the concoction sliding smoothly past your abused throat with little irritation, soothing the previous burn considerably.

 _“Good Girl.”_ , the voice praises.

You feel a rush of pleasure run through you as the worst bite is taken out of your thirst and the chokehold you have been feeling around your neck since you woke up loosens up a little. As if on cue, the warm pressure leaves your mouth, replaced by a cool rush of air.

“No!”, you practically shout at the loss, as thirst and hurt return.

Your trembling hands shakily reach towards the mystery man, groping into the darkness. As your fingers dig into what you think must be fur around the man’s neck, you weakly tug at him, realizing however that your strength has left you. A deep, rumbling chuckle echoes through the darkness. You hear a quiet slurp and then your hands are pressed beneath your two chests as he resumes his position over you. His one hand is still shielding your eyes, his other now carefully reaches up to cup your chin.

_“Open up.”_

You oblige immediately, resulting in an appreciative hum of his, and his full lips settle over yours once again, spilling the golden liquid onto your tongue. A little moan escapes your throat at the taste, causing him to exhale through his nose and lean into you more deeply to prevent spilling of the precious fluid. The hand on your chin guides you closely to him and your hands curl fast into his pelt, refusing to let go. You feel stubble scrape against your mouth as his lips momentarily split into a grin and then a wet, warm tongue slips into your mouth playfully, seeking.

You let out an involuntary gasp and suddenly he is gone again.

Your eyes fly open and you struggle to sit up, gaze searching the man who had held you so closely a second ago. He is crouching on the floor, back turned to you.

“I- kha”, you try to speak, only resulting in a bout of dry coughs. He is back by your side again immediately, fingers pressing softly against your lips.

 _“Don’t talk. You won’t be able to anyway, human.”_ he admonishes. _“Sorry. Here, have some water._ ”

As he raises a bowl to your lips, you swallow greedily, craving the feeling of the cool liquid down your throat. You realize the mistake of your haste immediately as, instead of cooling, the water feels like it’s ripping up what had so been craving its contact before.

_“Don’t swallow too fast! You’ll only end up hurtin’ if you do!”_

You’re back to lying on your side when you hear a sigh and feel him close the gap again between you, urging at your lips. A slick tongue dips into the seam of your mouth and again you feel his searing heat, establishing an airtight seal. This time you readily meet his efforts, opening for him, coaxing every drop of the honeyed water from him, needing it like a dying man in the desert needs the blue oasis waters, like a drowning man gasping for breaths of treasured air.

_*Nngghrrr*_

A low growl tears from the man’s throat. A sound that when replayed back to yourself sounds like an animal ready to pounce. Strangely, you feel yourself intoxicated by the thought of being held at the mercy of a big, dark animal. Moreover, you feel yourself blush at the warm wave of familiarity that washes over you.

You reach up, expecting to rub your hands over pointed, silky ears protruding from a large head, only to freeze when you feel small, rounded ones with almost fuzzy fur.

A low whine breaks the silence.

Shocked, you pull back abruptly, head spinning, gasping for breath as large, hazel eyes peer at you hesitantly from underneath a low fringe of hair.

Hazel eyes… You had been awaiting amber.

_“Oh mancub…”_

Your head explodes in pain as darkness’ embrace folds around you. A pained sob escapes your lips.

…

“Bagheera…!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Please do let me know if you have and suggestions or critique or ideas or love or just anything you want to tell me about "The Other Jungle Book". This is your story after all!


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